After years of authoritarianism, Venezuela faces a historic turning point with Maduro’s arrest. In this uncertain context, opposition leader María Corina Machado returns to the forefront. Winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize, she embodies a new vision and is a particular advocate for the adoption of Bitcoin.
Can María Corina Machado succeed Maduro?
The spectacular arrest of Nicolás Maduro last Friday, followed by his extradition to the US to stand trial, marks a historic turning point for Venezuela. The country, exhausted by years of economic crisis, hyperinflation, shortages, and repression, finds itself without real leadership, awaiting a US decision on its political transition.
In this context of economic chaos, Bitcoin has emerged as a lifeline for thousands, even millions, of Venezuelans. Used to circumvent the devaluation of the bolivar and transfer funds from abroad, it has become a pillar of the informal economy and a vital tool for everyday resilience.
Faced with this power vacuum, all eyes are now turning to the opposition, long silenced by the regime. María Corina Machado, an iconic figure of the resistance to Maduro, is back at the center of the political game.
Although banned from running in the 2024 presidential election, a decision widely denounced as arbitrary, she had nominated Edmundo González Urrutia to represent her. According to international observers, he won the election, but Maduro’s government blocked the transition, triggering a crisis of legitimacy that further weakened his power.
Machado, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her peaceful commitment to civil rights and democratic change, now embodies the hope for renewal. Her popularity remains strong, and with Maduro’s sudden fall, she could once again claim to play a decisive role in the country’s future.
According to the Polymarket prediction market, Machado now has a 57% chance of returning to Venezuela, but only an 18% chance of coming to power, compared to 23% for Edmundo González and 40% for Delcy Rodríguez, the current interim president and former vice president under Maduro.
Economically, she advocates a decisive break with the centralized models of the past.
For her, Bitcoin represents much more than a technical tool: it is an instrument of individual sovereignty.
Machado: 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-Bitcoin politician
Unlike her predecessors, Machado aims to adopt a more liberal policy. One of her key proposals is the integration of Bitcoin into the national economy.
For her, BTC is not just a technical tool, but a symbol of resistance to authoritarianism and hyperinflation.
She sees Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the central bank and an alternative monetary infrastructure, allowing citizens to protect their savings and circumvent state controls.
In 2024, during an interview with the Human Rights Foundation, Machado stated:
“Bitcoin has gone from being a humanitarian tool to a vital means of resistance. We are grateful for the lifeline it represents and look forward to fully embracing it in a new democratic Venezuela.”
This vision is in stark contrast to that of the outgoing regime, which has persecuted Bitcoin miners and shut down cryptocurrency-related infrastructure. If she comes to power, Venezuela could become one of the first countries to embrace Bitcoin, following El Salvador, not out of technological ideology, but as a concrete response to the collapse of its monetary system.
His election would thus pave the way for economic reconstruction, where the resilience offered by Bitcoin would play a central role in restoring stability and sovereignty to the Venezuelan economy.
